NEW DELHI: Aftab Amin Poonawalla, accused of strangling his live-in partner Shraddha Walker to death and chopping her body into 35 pieces, will undergo a narco test among other tests this week. Poonawalla gave his consent for the test in court after which Metropolitan Magistrate Vijayshree Rathore allowed the cops to go ahead with the 'truth serum' test. Although new revelations were being made in the case every day, the police felt that Aftab was trying to deviate them from important facts. Since the murder was committed 6 months ago in May 2022, the police need key evidence to convict Aftab beyond a reasonable doubt in court. The narco test is supposed to aid the police in the case. According to reports, the narco test won't necessarily be performed today but can be done in the next 5 days.
Know all about Aftab Poonawalla's narco test
Dr. Deepa Verma, director of Delhi's Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), said that a narco test is a long process. It may even take longer than 5 days. However, Aftab is in police custody for 5 days and then will be produced in court. She explained that there is a team with experts of different backgrounds - medical experts, psychologists, and anesthesiologists, among others. The psychologist will prepare the questions for the interaction with the accused. On Sunday evening, the lower part of a human skull was found by Delhi cops in a forest area. The skull is yet to be linked to Shraddha Walker's DNA. Aftab Poonawalla had severed Shraddha's head and disposed of it in the Mehrauli forest area. However, it hasn't been found by the cops yet.
Who is Aftab Poonawalla?
Born and brought up in Mumbai, Poonawala lived along with his younger brother Ahad, father Amin, and mother Munira Ben in Unique Park Housing Society in the Vasai suburb. Residents of the society recall that the brothers used to fight often but there was nothing more significant about his personality that would give an inkling about his diabolical side. A graduate from LS Raheja College in Mumbai, Poonawala shifted to Delhi earlier this year only after he met Walker. Poonawala has a page on Instagram by the name 'HungryChokro' which has 29.1k followers.
How he murdered Shraddha Walker
Shraddha and Aftab met on the dating app Bumble and soon began dating in Mumbai. The two then started working at the same call centre. Since they belonged to different faiths, their families objected to their relationship. Days after Aftab and Shraddha moved into their home in Delhi in May this year, he murdered her over an argument.
Later, they started working for the same call centre in Mumbai and fell in love. But their families objected to the relationship as they belong to different faiths, prompting the couple to move to Mehrauli earlier this year. On 18th May, the couple had an argument over marriage, which escalated and Poonawala killed her. The next day, he purchased a saw and a 300-litre refrigerator. Poonawala had studied hotel management and was trained in handling sharp knives as he had undergone a two-week training on how to cut meat. He applied the know-how to chop Walker's body into 35 pieces.
Accused cut her body into 35 pieces
He then went on to cut her body for two days. Poonawala would pack the refrigerator's deep freezer with the pieces and put the remaining ones in the bottom tray. After some time, he would take the frozen pieces out to deep freeze those kept in the tray. He also used incense sticks and room fresheners to suppress the foul smell. Police said that he used to take out the chopped pieces, pack them in polythene bags and take them to the forest in a backpack.
